Hooliganism
It was a sunny spring day in May, when Italian Andre Cazola woke up excited and happy. Today is the day of the match that had been booked months prior. The European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus! The first thing he glanced at when he opened his eyes, was the uniform of his team hung neatly behind his room door. He had bought the uniform months ago and wanted to wear it on an important occasion… like today. He reached under his bed to feel the floor. Then a smile appeared on his face, as his hand touched the new shoes, which he had bought only yesterday, along with a long pair of socks that reached his knees. Everything is ready… It will be a great day! I forgot to tell you two things though Number 1- Andre was only 11 years old. Number 2- he was killed inside the stadium that day. On the tenth of January, 630 AD, the Islamic army, led by the Prophet Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (Peace and Blessings be upon him) entered Makkah, conquering the city and destroying its idols… It was the day of their greatest victory… And as a sign of this victory, a man ascended to the top of the Kaaba and raised the call to prayer! Before I reveal to you two astonishing points about this moment, it is important to mention that Islam was revealed to the Arabs in a place called ‘the Arabian Peninsula’, and the language of the Quran is Arabic. Also, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.. and most of the Muslims “at that time”, were pure Arabs…. and most importantly, their pride in their Arabism was and still is a huge part of their identity. Now for the first surprise: The one who raised the call to prayer in that historic moment, was not an Arab… but an Abyssinian! Abyssinians are not Arabs… That man’s name was Bilal Ibn Rabah. I’ll tell you the second amazing piece of information in a moment, but first let me give you a fictitious scenario. A person [...] ...